


new beginnings

by justsomejerk



Series: Kylex - Run Away With Me [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: First Time Sex, Friends to Lovers, Kyle and Alex are so Soft for Each Other, Kyle is a Hard Worker, M/M, Near Future, New Relationship, POV Alternating, Shameless Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 01:14:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21128348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justsomejerk/pseuds/justsomejerk
Summary: Less than two hours after hitting the road, Kyle's needy seduction attempts from the passenger seat lead him and Alex to a roadside motel for first time sex and lots of feelings.





	new beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct continuation of "Run Away With Me." I was only planning to do this series in 2 parts, but then all the sex happened and now the actual road trip part keeps being pushed farther and farther into the future. Not it may end with part 3, but who knows. I love my soft boys. 
> 
> This is my first attempt at smut so please be gentle.
> 
> Beta'd by the amazing [Insidious-Intent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsidiousIntent/pseuds/InsidiousIntent).

“Stop staring at me like you’re Max in freshman bio finding out Liz is your lab partner! I’m trying to drive!” Even while using a stern tone, Alex can’t stop beaming as he briefly glances over at Kyle in the passenger’s seat.

Kyle Valenti. His boyfriend. Kyle Valenti is now his _ boyfriend_.

His boyfriend who can’t stop staring at him with the softest eyes Alex has ever seen. It’s sappy and stupid and Alex wants to slam on the brakes, tug him closer and kiss him senseless. Again.

He’s already done it three times, and they’ve been on the road for less than an hour. 

"Come on, Alex. This isn't the last scene of the Graduate. This is a happy ending. A happy beginning." Kyle squeezed his hand over the car's console, smiling deliriously at him. 

"I didn't realize you were so soft, Valenti."

"I am for you."

Alex rolls his eyes while smiling, clearly delighted. After a beat, he frowns. “Wait, you think The Graduate’s ending was sad? We literally just recreated it!”

“No, we didn’t. Neither of us got sad and terrified in the closing scene!” Kyle’s tone is offended, and he nudges himself closer to Alex, tugging their linked hands close to his chest out of some sort of protective instinct.

“Of course they were terrified. They just spontaneously decided to break away from the only lives they’d ever known and start over! That’s a scary thing to do. It doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have worked out. They just would have had to commit to their decision. And to each other.” 

Kyle doesn’t have a response to that. He just smiles shyly and brings their linked hands to his mouth to leave a lingering kiss on Alex’s palm. 

A giggle that is altogether too high-pitched for Alex's taste escapes him before he catches himself and swallows hard. “You can’t keep doing things like that. I need to focus on the road.”

“Actually, you don't. We have nowhere to be, Manes. We're both unemployed and officially on vacation. At least until we find somewhere we want to settle down. I think we can afford to be a bit aimless, can't we? Or maybe we can just focus on one particular aim for now.” As he speaks, he drops his hand and Alex feels it ghost down his front to hover over the zipper of his jeans. 

This is not how Alex imagined this day would go. He was supposed to be having a quiet, moody and decidedly lonely drive towards whatever bleak future he’d been imagining before Kyle Valenti decided to yell at him that they’re in love and he was being an idiot. 

But he _ did _ do that. Because they _ are _ in love and Alex was, in fact, being an idiot. 

Alex thought Kyle’s offer to come with him meant putting a halt on fleeing town so quickly to let Kyle work out the practicalities of leaving his life behind. Yet after they’d finished their extended period of basking in each other in the alley behind the Crashdown, Kyle asked if he wanted to get on the road.

“You wanna leave _ now_?” He’d asked in shock. His hands were clasped at the back of Kyle’s neck, tapping a casual rhythm with his fingertips along his hairline. Funny how natural it felt already, like Kyle’s body was where his hands were always meant to rest.

“Well, yeah. That was the plan, right?” Kyle had his back pressed against his SUV, his fingers having found their way under Alex’s three layers of clothing and were rubbing circles into Alex’s lower back. 

“I figured that was changing now. You can't just up and leave, you need to pack. You still have your condo-”

Kyle’s face scrunched up in the way it always does when a topic he's hoping to avoid comes up. “Actually, I don’t. I started renting it out last month. Plus, I’m kinda already packed.”

Alex simply raised his eyebrows in response, clearly asking for further explanation. Kyle sighed and pulled his arms tighter around Alex’s waist, tugging him closer as if he’d try to squirm out of his hold once he started explaining. Alex allowed their bodies to press together, but leaned his head back to look Kyle in the eyes.

“My mom agreed to store all my stuff. And I had a feeling you were going to try and sneak away without saying goodbye, so I just thought I’d pack in case I finally had the guts to confront you. I didn’t know how you’d respond, I just… hoped. I hoped I was right about us.” Kyle gave what he believed was a winning smile.

Alex’s face was inscrutable. “That was presumptuous of you.”

“And I was right, it turns out. _ So _ right.” He said it smugly before pressing their lips together, softly lingering there until he felt Alex respond by pushing his tongue into his mouth. He deepened the kiss as Alex’s hand pushed up into his hair and he erased whatever space remained between their eager bodies. 

Which is what led to his current predicament. Their eager bodies wanting to be too close for Alex to safely keep his eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. He is now sitting in his SUV - they decided to leave Kyle’s behind with his mother - parked outside a roadside motel somewhere in the Mescalero Reservation. Biting his lip, he waits for Kyle to check in and let him know the room number. 

The sky is clear blue, the sign reading Sunlight Motel is coloured in pastels, and he is about to have sex with his best friend for the first time at 10:30 am on a sunny Tuesday. His best friend who he has spent over twenty years believing to be straight. 

Despite sharing a bed with him for three months and, more often than not, spooning one another in an effort to find some relief from Alex’s night terrors, and the shooting pains and tingling numbness Kyle now experiences most nights thanks to peripheral neuropathy. 

_ God, we were _ both _ fucking idiots_. _ How the hell did this go on as long as it did? _

His spiralling train of thought is interrupted by the vibrations of his phone. _ Room 9. _

They bring their bags into the tiny second level room in silence. It has thick teal-blue carpeting and garish floral curtains. God knows what sorts of sins have been committed here in its decades of welcoming drifters, adulterers and general fuck-ups for lonesome, desperate nights by the roadside. 

The delirious flirtation and touches from the car have faded away now, and it’s just them alone in a crappy motel room with sharp sunlight peeking in through the sliver where the polyester curtains don’t quite meet. 

He takes a seat at the end of the bed as Kyle leans against the dresser across from him. Despite spending most of the drive trying to attach his mouth to Alex’s neck, Kyle now appears uncertain. His hands are fidgety and he trains his eyes on his own toes, burying and unburying them deep in the chenille carpeting.

Alex takes a deep breath and throws him a bone. “I’m nervous.”

Kyle’s head snaps up and the transformation on his face signals Alex’s voice is the balm his nerves needed. He smiles easily and moves forward, planting himself between Alex’s legs and squeezing his shoulders affectionately before offering, "me too." 

Alex looks up at Kyle’s face above him, open and warm. He cautiously reaches out and settles his hands lightly on Kyle's hips. It feels like seeking confirmation that the delirious bubble they built for themselves in only the last few hours won't burst once they move past giddy love confessions. 

He hesitates a moment before attempting the question that is now at the forefront of his mind. “Have you ever, um-”

“No. I’ve made out with a few guys. Got a blow job once when I was drunk, just before moving back to Roswell. But never sex.” Kyle’s hands pause in their massaging motion across Alex’s shoulders and one hand softly drifts across his clothed collarbone and up his neck, gently lifting Alex’s chin up so they’re eye to eye. “You’re going to be my first.”

Alex lets a controlled breath out slowly as his eyes roam Kyle’s face, so open to him. His jacket is already off, tossed away as an afterthought upon entering the room. He has two more layers for Kyle to conquer.

Before leaning down to begin the work of unbuttoning the emerald green shirt, Kyle ruefully smiles and decides he needs a plan to slyly convince his boyfriend to wear less clothing. Now that he has Alex all to himself, he is going to require easier access to this body of his at all times. 

He suddenly feels frantic in his mission to memorize every scar, every blemish, every piece of perfect imperfection on Alex’s body. Nudging his nose along the sensitive skin by his ear, Kyle finishes his confession in a whisper: “And hopefully my last.” In response, he receives a dizzy punched-out moan.

He frees Alex of his two remaining layers in a hurry and Kyle takes his time running his palms over Alex’s toned chest and abs. He feels Alex melt into the touch, eyes closed, a long sighing breath escaping him. Kyle thinks of all the time Alex puts into core workouts with his physical therapist and pulls back to claw at his own clothing, desperate for the skin-on-skin contact he’s been fantasizing about for months now. 

In moments Kyle is down to his briefs and dropping to the carpet, cautiously placing his hands on Alex’s knees, the rough denim the next layer between them. His eyes ask permission to take the next step and Alex responds by locking his gaze on Kyle, removing his belt and unzipping before raising his hips, inviting the other man to take over. 

Once freeing Alex of his remaining clothing, the flats of his palms are now stroking Alex’s thighs, the silence hanging over the room heavy but welcoming. His eyes close involuntarily as Alex pulls a hand through his hair, short nails dragging across his scalp. 

“How have I never done this before?” Kyle asks lightly once his hands have drifted down to begin removing the prosthetic.

“Because I never let you. I always took it off in the bathroom or when you were out of the room.” Alex’s voice has softened and he looks at Kyle with a naked tenderness, the hand in his hair making its way down to cradle his sharp jawline. “Sleeping together every night was already such a loaded thing. I had to wall you off from at least _ some _ parts of me. This is what I managed.”

Kyle absorbs that information in silence, gingerly leaning the prosthetic against the bed before unrolling the sock and liner and putting them aside. Returning to light caresses along his thighs, he asks, “Can we make a promise?”

Alex’s hungry eyes turn apprehensive but still, he nods. “Can we promise that when it gets hard, we’ll talk to each other? We both have our coping mechanisms, but if this is going to work, we need to be willing to tell each other when we’re struggling. If we need help or even space, we ask for it. Promise?” 

As the inquiry is left hanging in the air, Alex watches the worried sincerity on Kyle’s face and a hint of a smile tugs at his mouth. He leans forward towards the man kneeling between his legs, vulnerable and young-looking, rubbing their noses together. “I promise.” He plants a sweet, brief kiss on the man’s waiting lips. Kyle murmurs his own promise in return before resuming kisses that quickly become frenetic. He drags his fingertips from his thighs up to Alex’s neck before grabbing firmly and pulling them to tumble on the bed together in a twisted pile of limbs, giggling briefly before fervently bringing their lips together again. 

“How do you want to do this?” Alex stutters out between heavy breaths, eyes closed, sighing contentedly at the way Kyle is sucking and licking up his neck.

Kyle waits to respond until he has reached Alex’s lips, hungrily muttering against the corner of his mouth: “I want you to fuck me.” Alex hooks his left leg up behind Kyle’s thigh, clearly satisfied with the response. After a few more heated moments of shared breath, Kyle turns his head, pulling his lips out of reach and after letting out a groan of complaint, Alex simply readjusts and begins planting wet kisses across his cheekbones, jawline, anywhere his hungry lips can touch. “I mean for the first time. I wanna try both, uh, eventually. Or even next time.” Kyle frowns and huffs out a breath, frustrated with his inability to convey what he truly intends even as Alex carries on trailing his lips across his skin, giving Kyle the space to work out his message. “I mean, uh- I wanna try everything with you.”

He can feel the smile that Alex pushes into his throat at those needy words. Alex lets out a soft laugh against his skin, and the resulting vibrations pull a shiver from some deep pit of need inside Kyle he could never identify before he began seeing his best friend in a new light. 

Alex brings his forehead to rest against his boyfriend’s temple, both closing their eyes and breathing one another in for a moment of calm. 

“We will. We’ll do _ everything_.” Alex promises raggedly. “Now take these off.” He adds, tugging at the waistband of his briefs with that authoritative tone Kyle can now admit does it for him every time. As he stands to remove them in an almost comical rush, Alex reaches for a bottle of lube he’d set on the bedside table earlier. Within moments of returning to his side, Alex reaches a slick hand between them and takes firm hold of him while pulling him close to continue kissing, as if making up for the years they went without this. 

It’s been so long since anyone has touched him like this. Alex is purring filth into his ear about being so good and compliant for him, and Kyle finds heat pooling in the pit of his stomach at the praise. He takes stock of his own unexpected reaction to the words and makes a mental note to explore that at a later date when he isn’t being jerked off so expertly. Soon Alex’s head dips down and he is laving at Kyle’s nipple with the flat of his tongue, circling around and around before he takes the nub between his teeth and gently tugs, pulling a low groan out of Kyle.

After only a few minutes of getting lost in Alex’s touch, he realizes he’s getting too close too soon and wraps a hand around Alex’s wrist to still the movements.

Pushing Alex onto his back, he intones, “My turn,” before slowly making his way down his body to hover over his abdomen. He extends his palms over his hip bones, slowly spreading his fingers to dig into the soft skin. His head dips to place a sweet kiss on his naval before his fingers sink deeper into the flesh and he drags them down the length of Alex's body, taking his boxers with him. He takes his time kissing back up until the moment he ravenously takes him into his mouth. 

It feels like forever since he’s been dreaming of Alex’s smell, his taste, the sounds he would make if Kyle ever got the chance to wrap his lips around him and just breathe in. His senses are so overwhelmed that for a moment he simply curls his fingers into the creases of his thighs, and allows Alex’s cock to slowly harden inside his still mouth. Soon he has to breathe though, and finds himself coughing when he accidentally sucks him in further than intended. Alex’s head pops up from the pillow and he smirks. “Already choking on me, huh?”

Kyle tries mumbling a _ ‘fuck you’ _ but it gets lost between coughs so instead he pinches Alex’s hip quickly in retaliation before rolling onto his back.

Alex makes a sharp high-pitched noise at the unexpected sting and grabs for Kyle’s hand, pulling him up the bed to lie against his side. As Kyle’s breathing evens out, he rubs circles into his back and comments in a newly tender version of his typical snark, “Maybe we should save cock warming for when you’re more experienced, newbie.”

Kyle looks aghast and sputters a bit before Alex consoles him, "It's okay, I've got a few dick-sucking mishaps in my past. The first time, I was so paranoid about getting caught by my dad that I bit down at one point. _ Hard_. The guy was, uh, surprised to say the least." 

Kyle raises an eyebrow. “Please say it was with Guerin.”

Alex's grin is wicked. “I don't suck and tell, Kyle. The point is, your enthusiasm is a good thing. You've got a lot of promise.” They lock eyes for a second before dissolving into laughter. Kyle nuzzles his head further into Alex's chest, feeling the vibrations of his mirth, as his strong arms wrap around him. Kyle throws his left leg over Alex's, snuggling closer. 

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Alex clears his throat, pulling Kyle's attention away from where he's running fingers through Alex's sparse patch of chest hair. Kyle raises himself on one elbow to watch his boyfriend. He can feel the staccato rhythm playing on his bicep become erratic as Alex bites down on his lower lip. Kyle smiles at the knowledge that he can make stalwart, stoic airman Alex Manes this nervous. He never believed he could hold that kind of power, especially not over Alex. 

As he tries to think of something sweet and consoling to say, Alex suddenly snaps his head in his direction, a fierce rawness emanating from his eyes and he confesses almost aggressively, “I love you.” Kyle smiles wide and shifts, pulling himself to sit up and take Alex's shaky hands, never breaking eye contact. “I just realized I didn't say it. You said it _ for _ me. And though it feels like doing the single most spontaneous thing I've ever done in my life for you should be confirmation enough, it turns out my actions don't speak nearly as loudly as my words, so.. I love you so much, Kyle. Thank you for not letting me leave without you.”

Kyle gives him a moment to take a few deep breaths, knowing how overwhelming these truths are for Alex to acknowledge and confess. After a few heavy beats, he simply responds, “You're welcome.”

Before long, he has his mouth around Alex again, determined to prove he’s a quick study. The wet sounds of Kyle’s hard work mix with Alex’s panting, one hand grasping the sheets and one lost in Kyle’s hair. 

“I’m gonna- unh Kyle, _ fuck_, no- I don’t want to-” 

At those words, Kyle freezes, pulling off with a popping sound. He’s unable to resist leaving a quick loving kiss on the head before shooting an inquiring look at the blissful-looking man lying underneath him. He blinks open one eye as Kyle crawls up his body to sprawl on top of him. His body gives a jolt that shivers through them both when their cocks brush against the other with an unexpected friction.

“I wanna wait. I wanna come inside you.” 

There's a pleading in his eyes and a tone Kyle has never heard before. 

He wants to keep teasing that plea out of him for the rest of his life. Christ, it makes him want to give Alex everything he's ever wanted. 

"I want that so fucking bad, but I won't last if you keep talking like that." 

Alex's eyes are hooded as he replies, “Is that a challenge?”

Kyle is already on edge, but something about the way he looks at him shoots another sharp line of heat straight to his dick. 

In a split-second move Kyle should have seen coming, Alex has him on his back and swallowed nearly whole, one hand wrapped around the base and the other resting on his belly, pressing gently but in a way Kyle understands to mean _ don’t you dare move_. So he lays back and marvels at the movements of Alex’s tongue on his cock. He pulls off to place wet kisses along the underside in a way that feels simultaneously sweet and filthy, then switches gears to tease his frenulum and holy _ fuck _ , no one has ever quite made him feel _ this _ before.

The hand pressing his core down into the bed moves, scraping nails down the inside crease of his thigh. His brain short circuits around the time Alex sucks his balls into his mouth while massaging his perineum. 

He feels drunk. Sex has never felt like this before, no matter how technically good it was. Even when it’s sloppy and imperfect, there’s something about the way Alex touches him that is unlike anything else.

“Are you ready?”

Alex’s eyes are wide and imploring, staring into his. He is laying on his side, a slick finger ready, hovering at his entrance. Somehow in the time Kyle has been losing himself to Alex’s touch, he had time to prepare them both with lube; he patiently waits an extra beat for Kyle to wade through the haze of pleasure and nod at his question. For extra emphasis, Kyle pulls his thighs to his chest, holding them in place to expose himself entirely and moves his hips to rub against Alex’s finger. Greedy for it.

Alex smirks, a dark gleam in his eyes, and pushes in. Kyle groans long and low. Alex moves closer, wrapping his entire body around Kyle’s and whispering praise into his ear as he whimpers and goes to pieces. Kyle’s head falls into the cradle of his neck and he strokes his hair and peppers his face with kisses. 

He takes his time, even after Kyle starts begging.

“Baby, I can’t give you my cock until you relax. Can you do that for me?” Alex is purring in his ear and it’s all too much. He can’t think straight. There’s a joke in there about how Kyle hasn’t been thinking straight since senior year of college, but his mind can barely process that thought before he is moaning for Alex to _ just do it, already_.

“Baby, look at me.” Alex’s voice cuts through his own thoughts and he focuses his eyes on the beautiful man above him. “There you are. Can you breathe for me? We can stop anytime.”

“No, don’t stop. Please, Alex-” Kyle cuts himself off as Alex pushes three fingers in, spreading and stretching until the resistance is gone.

That’s when he retreats, leaving Kyle panting for more while he locates condoms and lube, coating them both until they’re dripping.

His breath is already coming out in stutters when Alex shifts to straddle him, taking an extra moment to get comfortable, and nudges himself against Kyle’s entrance. One hand soothes down one arm, providing a comforting squeeze before Kyle is breached and a long strangled moan escapes him.

Alex moves slowly, pushing in only by increments as Kyle whimpers, eyes locked on his. He mutters _ slow, go slow_, and Alex pauses to sync their breathing, hands smoothing down Kyle’s flank. He bends down to kiss him sweetly and deeply, and Kyle responds by grabbing his hips and pulling him in further. His own gasps betray his bliss even through the discomfort, and Alex can’t stop himself from smiling affectionately at Kyle’s neediness. Smiling because _ he _ is somehow the focus of that need. 

Soon he pushes in entirely and stills, allowing his body time to adjust, even as Kyle murmurs on and on how much he loves him and how good it feels.

It takes time but eventually Alex starts moving, thrusting into him far more delicately than he usually would. It’s been a long time since he’s been anyone’s first. 

Kyle grows impatient quickly. “Come on, Manes. I'm not that delicate. Fuck me like you mean it.” He whines as he tries thrusting his hips from his point of limited leverage on his back.

But Alex doesn’t let up the torturously languid pace. In fact, he grinds his hips into him even slower for a few moments before wrapping hands around Kyle’s thighs and readjusting his body to drape his legs over his shoulders, changing the angle to draw even wilder moans from the man writhing underneath him. He uses one hand to press his hips into the bed and locks an arm across Kyle’s firm thighs, pressing them snug against his own stomach, and feels out the new position; he’s leaning heavily on his good side and it might leave him aching later, but he can manage deeper thrusts.

He hasn’t had much opportunity to explore the new ways his body can move with a partner since his injury. Sex with Michael was always so frantic and desperate, and they were never together long enough to have conversations about wants and desires and logistics. Knowing he now has a future with someone who is already dragging him into healthy communication sends a jolt of pleasure straight to his core, unconnected to the way their bodies are presently joined and moving together. 

“How’s that feel, baby?” He coos. The only response he receives is strangled, incoherent moaning and he laughs wickedly, savouring the sweetness of seeing Kyle undone by him. 

Kyle comes first, but only barely. He spills over his own belly shortly before Alex reaches his own release, his arms buckling under his own weight as he moans through it and Kyle strokes his face, Alex’s forehead leaning into his as he finishes.

After a few moments of laying together, still connected and utterly destroyed in the best way possible, Kyle reaches out to grab a shirt strewn on the bed to wipe himself up but Alex intervenes with a touch to his forearm, shaking his head. Kyle gives him a curious expression.

Alex only smiles and goes through the motions of pulling out, removing the condom and setting it aside. He then places a quick kiss to Kyle’s lips and lowers his head down over the mess left on his body, and starts licking it up. His eyes drift closed as he happily hums at Kyle’s taste on his tongue. He continues lapping it up even as he opens his eyes and focuses on Kyle staring down at him.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Kyle’s expression is nothing short of lust and awe. 

Then, he smiles. “I love you so fucking much.”

With a devilish grin, Alex places a kiss on his hip and gazes at him fondly. “I love you too.”

Afterwards, they’re curled up facing one another and Alex asks, “How's your hand? Any pain today?”

“Nah. Bit of tingling earlier, but it's a good day." Using an arm to prop himself up, Kyle is stretched out like a cat along the bed, putting his long, naked body on display. Alex happily laps up the cockiness of the pose he used to wish he could hate, his eyes roaming up and down his body. Kyle smirks at the attention and casually says, "You know, falling in love with you was such inconvenient timing.”

“I’m sorry?”

“There are days I can barely even use my hand. And I used to be _ so _ good with my hands. Like, _ really _ good.”

Alex laughs as he lets his fingers casually drift over Kyle's hips, his defined adonis belt, the sensitive skin of his inner thighs. A sort of casual intimacy he's never had and only now understands he has craved for so long. He's been starving for it. "I know, Kyle. You were a surgeon. I'm sure all the women you've gotten off in your life have been very satisfied."

"Of course they were! But now I'll never consistently give _ you _ mind-blowing handjobs and that just won't cut it. You deserve the very best handjobs, Alex Manes." Kyle looks genuinely pained at the thought.

"You've got a second hand you can start practicing with, Kyle. Besides, there are plenty of things you can do with other parts. Your mouth, for example. You've already proven yourself to be above average with your mouth, even after that shaky first attempt." Alex chuckles and attempts to gently push Kyle onto his back to snuggle his head into his shoulder, but Kyle reels back, offended. 

“_ Above average! _ What kind of lackluster praise is that? Is that really how it's gonna be, Manes?” Alex is laughing now, Kyle watching his face in faux outrage. “No, this aggression will not stand. You're not leaving this bed until I've reached the status of _ 'holy fuck, your fucking mouth makes me see stars, my dick was made to be sucked by you and you alone_.'”

“Well if that’s how it’s gonna be, who am I to argue?” Alex's eyes flick down towards his own cock in invitation.

Kyle accepts the invitation with enthusiasm.

Later, after Kyle has wrung two more orgasms out of Alex at great effort and feels considerably better about his proficiency, they open the curtains to realize it’s only late afternoon and the New Mexican sun is still beating down, warming the already overheated room. 

Exhausted and fucked out, Kyle turns onto his side to face Alex, “Babe, we need food. Preferably delivery so we don't have to put clothes on just yet.”

Alex cocks his head at him. “Babe? Am I babe now?”

“What? I like pet names!” Kyle looks bashful as he says it. “You called me baby during sex!”

“That’s different and you know it.”

“Fine. What do you want to be called?”

“I _ suppose _ I can live with babe.” Alex stretches out the statement with an aggrieved yet amused air. 

“You actually love it, don't you? You love being my babe.”

“No one's ever really used pet names for me. Not outside sex, anyway.” Alex shrugs, attempting indifference but not quite managing. “I suppose I can live with it.”

Eventually, they order mediocre Mexican delivery to eat in comfortable silence at the tiny round table by the open window while sunbeams trace a path across the floor. They've shared many meals together already - in the bunker, the hospital, the cabin. But this time they're both half naked and Kyle has traces of dried come in his hair that he proudly refuses to rinse out.

_ So this is the new normal_, Alex muses to himself, watching Kyle's ab muscles ripple as he pops a taquito in his mouth. He is sprawled in the chair, shameless and loose in only his tight black briefs. 

Alex clears his throat. “You know, I've never been to Utah.”

Kyle glances up, curious about the non sequitur. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah. I've been all over the Middle East and Europe, but never next door. Before my last tour, I was planning to spend a few weeks camping and hiking around all the national parks.” Alex heaves a deep sigh, setting his empty food carton on the table between them. “I shouldn't have put it off. Now-” He glances down at his stump and grimaces. 

“Now what?” Kyle challenges. Alex tilts his head, already tired at the thought of broaching a conversation about the things he'll never get to do with him. Kyle’s expression softens quickly when he sees the tension in Alex's face and he tosses his food aside, hopping up from the chair to retrieve his laptop. He goes to plop himself on the bed, but not before dragging Alex up and tucking him in beside him. “You're in incredible shape. And I'd know - I've had sex with you.” Alex snorts at that, hiding his face in Kyle's shoulder, who places a quick kiss to his temple before typing away. “There are lots of hikes that could work for both of us. And some really beautiful drives that I did with mom and dad when I was a kid.” He rambles on for awhile about the possibilities and Alex’s stamina and the things he wants them to experience together. When he starts considering the question of getting a more suitable vehicle for their adventures, Alex jumps in. “Should we go full-on white suburban retiree and get a giant campervan?”

“That’s not fair! Campervans are _ also _ for Instagram influencers.” Kyle quirks an eyebrow at him. 

“What am I, Isobel Evans? Everyone back in Roswell is lucky I even started an Instagram account at all.”

“Speaking of, I noticed you haven't even posted a photo yet. We should do that.”

“Kyle, we’re not exactly photo-appropriate right now.”

“On the contrary, we’ve never looked better.” Kyle grins at him and winks before grabbing Alex’s phone from the bedside table and raising it above their heads, Kyle grinning at his reflection as Alex turns pink. A split second before taking the photo, Kyle turns his head and presses their lips together in a kiss.

Alex captions the photo _ new beginnings_.


End file.
